Estuaries are partially enclosed bodies of water where freshwater and saltwater mix. They are key coastal habitats for many a species of mammal, fish and bird—and are used as spawning grounds for much of our nation’s commercial fish and shellfish. The wetlands associated with estuaries buffer uplands from flooding. Estuaries also provide many recreational opportunities
Despite outcries about deficits, Congress is debating a massive $318 billion highway bill. This is the same Congress that routinely attempts to defund Amtrak, which has absorbed a tiny fraction of road spending. Congress wouldn’t even think of passing such a budget buster in an election year were it not for the enormous highway construction contracts that land like fat golden goose eggs in lawmakers" districts.
According to the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, 315 million computers are expected to become obsolete by the end of 2004. Given the lightening speed of computer technology, some environmental groups estimate the average lifespan of a computer is only three years.
According to Neil Seldman, president of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a non-profit that promotes sustainable communities, the first two programs were in Madison, Wisconsin and Marblehead, Massachusetts.
As far as we can tell, there are no consumer-marketed electric can crushers. But that’s no tragedy. Why waste fossil fuel-generated electricity when human power will do the job just fine? One of the most practical models we’ve seen is the MultiCrush Can Compactor available for $23 from Planet Natural.
The Bush Administration Packs the Courts with Anti-Environmental Judges For more than 30 years, environmental laws ranging from the Clean Air Act to the Endangered Species Act have provided a formidable weapon for activists and ordinary citizens trying to protect the environment. While the environment does not always prevail in court, litigation has become an […]
Was Global Warming Responsible for the Deadly Heat? By the end of Europe’s staggering summer heat wave, Budapest’s ornate bridges were looking strange. They stood high above the water, their supporting foundations exposed, looking as if they were all standing on tiptoes. Rarely seen boulders jutted out from the brown surface of the Danube and […]
A Radioactive Nightmare in Concord, Massachusetts The waitress at the ice cream shop in Concord, Massachusetts was surprised. "A Superfund site?" she asked, incredulous, "on Main Street?" Not just a Superfund site—a Superfund site that a cleanup contractor has dubbed "near the tip of the peak in terms of [cleanup] difficulty." A radioactive Superfund site. […]
When Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1972, the goal was to force industries to reduce the flow of pollution into the nation’s waterways. Thirty years later, new applications of the law are raising questions. For instance, what happens if the pipe from which the pollution flows is up in the air, attached to […]
Described as a "living theater of plants and people," the Eden Project is an international visitor attraction set in a former clay quarry in Cornwall, England. The focus of the 280,000-square-foot gardens is on the two giant greenhouses, which simulate Mediterranean and tropical climates for trees and plants. Once described as a "giant blanc-mange [pudding] […]
